Either Darjeeling or Bigelow’s Cinnamon Stick or maybe Lemon Lift. Little bit of sweetener. No milk, no alcoholic additions. Hot only.
Tho lately, I pretty much stick with water. Plain water. With ice.
Hmm. Tea cosies, another area of possible controversy.
Mine is from Peter Jones in Sloane Square and is a standard quilted one. Home knitted is good too.
You can wear them on your head when you’re drunk.
Darjeeling. As much sugar as I can possibly dissolve in it.
I have found that whether you drink it hot or cold, the best tea is still good old fashioned Chinese Oolong tea, preferably from the Fujian province. Second best would be the Jamsine variety, which is usually made from good old fashioned Chinese Green tea with jasmine flower petals thrown in for the delicious aroma. Although Chrysanthemum tea aint to bad, either.
Bewleys loose Irish beakfast, prepared as the English do but I like a bit of cream rather than milk.
I did get some Barrys bagged tea that was pretty good but I could still taste the paper…ick
I enjoy any black tea, straight up, except orange pekoe, which requires milk and sugar to balance out the tannins.
I also love iced tea, the fresh-brewed kind, with no sugar or lemon. Sometimes I make it with mint, which is yummy.
Currently I have in my pantry: Twinings Lady Grey, Bigelow Plantation Mint, and a green tea with plum. I long to own some looseleaf genmaicha (black tea with roasted rice grains), oolong, English Breakfast, and Earl Grey. My favourite herbal tea is Wu Wei from World Spice Merchants in Seattle.
Bergamot: I agree that Earl Grey can taste soapy, which is why I avoid Bigelow’s version. Twinings and Jackson’s of Piccadilly make a much more subtle Earl Grey.
All this talk of sugar and milk makes me want to puke!
If you choose a nice quality loose leaf (never powder in a bag) Oolong tea brewed in not quite boiling water for just two or three minutes; you will never even want to ruin the great flavour with sugar or milk. I beleive it is a cardinal sin to desecrate the greatness of fine Oolong tea with such vulgarities as sugar and milk.
I would also suggest that you invest in a nice Chinese clay tea pot set.
It is possible to find good loose leaf tea bag form, but you may need to travel into the Asian theatre to find it.
One of the perks of working in Boulder is that as far as I can tell, it’s the law that your employer must supply you with several varieties of Celestial Seasonings tea. I’ve worked at 5-6 different companies here, and they all have a cupboard full of Celestial Seasonings. My current favorite is Fast Lane.
BTW, I’m sitting about 1 mile away from the CS world headquarters. Anyone want anything? I could run over there at lunch.
Teeeeaaaaa… [sub]wipes drool off of chin[/sub]
Hot, iced, staight up, sugar, milk, cream, half-n-half, etc. If it’s tea, I’ll try it.
For me, a ‘mug’ of tea is one of those large canning jars. Cools down evenly, then I can take nice looooong sips without running out of tea on the second sip.
As for making it: coffee maker. Just put the tea bags in the basket-thingy, or loose leaves in a filter (keeps the tea from clogging up the spout thingy). Keeps the tea nice and warm, and makes enough for my appetite.
Currently I’m drinking a Russian tea (can’t remember the exact type) that can turn out dark enough to be mistaken for coffee. It makes the best iced tea since it holds up well to being diluted by ice. (Even then, it’s still strong enough to put hair on your chest and rip it right back off again.)
But my favorite… Thai tea. Hot, or iced, doesn’t matter. Nice and nutty, vanilla-ly, and still tea at the same time. Got to be strong though: if it doesn’t eat through the countertop, it’s not strong enough.
<< Spoon! >>
I have been assured by a friend of mine that the only tea that is suitable for English tea is PG Tips. And I have to admit that he made a damn good cup of tea, even if it did have milk and sugar in it.
PG Tips. In a teabag. Add hot water and milk, poke the teabag for a minute and you’re ready to go. No-nonsense tea.
While in LA, we went out for breakfast. I eschewed the vast mexican omlettes that certain dopers were devouring and asked for some toast and a cup of tea. I just wanted normal white bread that had been put in a toaster until it was slightly brown and a cup of hot tea.
Following a debacle after I settled for some kind of chewy bread thing, they brought me a basket of teas. A whole basket! Do I look like some voracious tea-fiend? I just want tea! I sifted through and found lipton tea. I put it in the cup… and had to ask for milk. Can you sense my bewilderment? Tea comes with milk. Always. The milk doesn’t have to be in the tea - people can then make their own choice as to whether or not to add milky goodness to their tea, but to serve tea without milk? Well really.
Fran, who likes to say “Make it so” when clicking “Yes” to a prompt on her computer.
What’s in my pantry right now:
English Breakfast
Irish Breakfast
Lapsang Souchong (well, this is actually in the hall closet - its aroma permeates more delicately flavored things)
Russian Caravan
Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice
All all but the last get half n half and about half a sugar cube’s worth of sugar. I put a bit of apple juice or cider in the last.
Occasionally I will make peppermint iced tea, slightly sweetened.
After reading this thread, I just want to run home and make a pot of tea. Must…stay…in…library…tea later…
I’m torn between Earl Grey and English Breakfast as my number one tea, though I like to get variety packs to keep myself from becoming more staid and monontonous than is bearable. No matter what, I have to have cream and sugar.
I am very picky about tea and about other people’s attitudes about it, too. I hate to see people walk around drinking it with the bag still in. That implies they drink some too weak and some too strong and that just blows my mind.
Here’s what I do: I put a round, Tetley British blend bag in a cup. I pour the water over it and microwave for one minute, forty five seconds. I remove the bag (this is crucial), add two equals and milk. If I want lemon, it must be a slice, not a wedge. It goes in after one minute and then I microwave for 45 seconds more. Then remove the bag, but not the lemon, add two equals and enjoy.
I like those cold brew bags for iced tea. With iced tea, the lemon must be wedges, not slices.
The only tea in my house is:
Chinese Oolong Tea from the Fujian Province
Chinese Green Tea from the Fujian Province
Chinese Jasmine Tea from the Fujian Province
Chinese Chrysanthemum Tea “beverage”
It is in the commandments…Thou shalt not put milk in thy tea!
And later in the Levitical Laws…It is an abomination unto the Lord to drink tea with milk!
A little bit of honey to offset any bitterness in case you steeped it too long, is acceptable.
Mmmm…Fast Lane Tea. I’m convinced it was invented by the gods at 3:30 in the morning when they had a paper due at 7. It’s like a drug to me…I can feel the caffeine sliding through my veins after one sip. Because of this, I only drink it when the need arises (which it has quite often during my senior year of college.)
I’m glad someone mentioned TeaLuxe. My roomate worked there this summer, and managed get an insane amount of tea for us this year because she was an employee. If any Dopers live in the Boston area, they should really check it out. They have about eight different kinds of Earl Grey tea alone…needless to say, I’ve become very spoiled this year, since it’s my favorite type of tea. But they have lots of different other teas as well–tons of different Chais, Green Teas, and herbal mixes. I also recommend checking it out b/c according to my roomate, they’re just about to go under (due more to bad management than anything else) so there’s another reason to stock up on TeaLuxe tea.
Gotta second Podkayne here (yes, I know that others beat me to it); Darjeeling is indeed the champagne of teas. It’s the only tea that I drink with nothing else in it. Other teas (or when I’m sick)–honey and lemon juice. Mmmmmm…
I also like Irish Breakfast. Oh, and Russian Caravan–haven’t had that since I was a kid! I didn’t know it was still around.
Oh, and if you think regular Earl Grey is vile, I recently had (for some reason that escapes me at the moment)…Double Bergamot Earl Grey! The horror! It was like chewing on a cake of soap (and not in a good way, either). I was sick, so I wasn’t tasting as well as I usually do; I can’t imagine what it would have been like otherwise. I went home from work and threw out all the rest. I’d tell you all which brand so you could avoid it, but I don’t remember, and besides, you all probably have more sense than to drink anything that says “Double Bergamot” on it. More sense than me, anyway.
That’s the way my grandmother made tea … and she was English (born & raised). She didn’t strain when pouring because then she had nothing to read after one was finished drinking their tea. She was most emphatic on the milk goes in first bit though.
Oh, I must be terribly uncouth.
I have an iced tea pot, made by Mr. Coffee. I make a pitcher every day and I only use Luzianne decaf teabags.
I drink it in tall glasses with lemon juice (fresh or bottled, either one) and three ice cubes.
I dislike hot drinks of any kind, even hot chocolate. Although I will put tomato soup in a mug and drink that.
Sheri
Chinese green tea, loose leaf in clay pot. Water at about 80 degC, absolutely not boiling or you’ll bruise the tea.
Still and all, mostly I drink coffee.